Fire escape



(No Model.)

J. DISS.`

EIEE ESCAPE.

N0. 368,075. Patented Aug. 9, 1887.

-:IEE:

ITLI/enr UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

JULiUs Diss, F DussELDoEF, FFUss'iA, GERMANY.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 368.075, dated August 9,1887.

Application filed May 26, 1886. Serial Nor. 203,310. (No model.) Patented in Germany March 13, 1886, No. 37,360, and in France May 1o, 188s, No. 176,036.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JU'LIUS Diss, engineer, subject of the Grand Duke of Baden, residing at Dusseldorf, Prussia, German Empire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, (for which Letters Patent have been granted in France No. 176,036, dated May l0, 1886, and in Germany No.

.37,360, dated March 13, 1886 and I do here cape. Fig. 5 shows the tire-escape contained in a casing for use as a pocket fire-escape.

This invention relates to that class of fireescapes in which is employed a carriage or support for the person or other load constructed to travel along a rope, and with which is combined a brake by'means of'which the speed of the carriage o n the rope is regulated.

The invention consists iu the construction of the carriage and brake devices,and in the combination therewith of a case containing a ropespool when the {ire-escape is constructed to be carried on the person, substantially as hereinw after fully described, and as specified in the claims.

In' the drawings, C indicates the carriage composed of a rectangular frame having a perforation, c3, in each of its end cross-bars, c' c2,

the cross-bar c2 being also provided with suitsire to claim any specially-constructed support.'

In the side bars or cheeks c c of the frame are journaled crossbars or rollers R and R', the

upper roll, R', being journaled in sliding bearings b', fitted in slots o4, formed in the cheeks of the frame. r is the upper guideroll and r the lower guide-roll, which, together with the pin r2, that co-operates with the lower guide-roll, 1", serve to guide the rope to and from the rolls R R from and to the openings in the end bars, cc?.

As shown, the rope A passes throughthe opening in the upper cross-bar, c', thence alternately over and under the series of rolls to and between the lower guide-roll, r, and the pin r2, and thence through the opening in the lower cross-bar, c2. The brake for regulating the speed at which the carriage C is to travel along the rope comprises a lever, L, pivoted to the upper cross-bar, c', of the frame, and a wedge-shaped and forked brakeshoe, S, piv-' oted'to the lever and straddling and impinging upon the rope A.

It will be seen that if the lever L is pressed against the carriage the brake-shoe S not only vpressesthe rope more or less tightly onto the guideroll r, according to the pressure applied to the lever, but wedging between said guideroll and the rol-l R, which, as stated above, is journaled in sliding bearings, depresses said roll, thereby wedging the rope between the said roll R and the succeeding roll R, thereby regulating the speed with which the carriage travels'along the rope A.

The described device may be used for the lowering of any kind of materials from an elevation, and in such case an ordinary rope can be employed; but when used for the purposes for which it is chiefly designed a wire rope is employed. The frame of the carriage Cniay be incased in leather and the casing or sheathing provided with handholes.

Then the device is constructed to be carried on the person, I provide, as shown in Fig. 5, an inclosing-case, B, for the same, in which is journaled a rope-spool, the rope A being in this case made of line steel wire, so that a very thin flexible rope capable of supporting acom- 9 5 paratively-heavy load and of great length may be wound on the spool. y

One end of the rope is preferably secured to the spool and the other end, after being threaded through the carriage, has a loop, a, formed roo thereon, so that it may be readily secured to any stationary object of sufficient strength to support the weight to be suspended from the carriage, or said rope end may be provided with any other suitable ineans for attaching it to a stationary object.

If a necessity arises for the use of the lireescape7 the carriage is removed from its ease, the rope end a secured to some stationary sup port, and the case B thrown ont of awindow- :for instance, through which the escape is to `be made-thereby causing the rope to unwind from the spool. The carriage is now caused to slide along the rope to the outside of the window and the brake operated to prevent its sliding along the rope. The person nowseats himself into the girt and then again 1nanipnlates the brake-lever to allow the carriage C to slide along the rope at the desired speed.

It will he understood that when the brakelever is pressed close to the frame of the carriage the rope will be wedged to such an extent as to effectually prevent any movement of the carriage on the rope, whatever be the weight suspended therefrom, and in order to allow said carriage to travel along the rope the lever has to be forcibly moved outward to withdraw the wedge-shaped brakesshoe from between the guide-roll r and the roll R.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a fire escape, the combination of a carriage consisting of a series of cross-bars or rolls journaled in a frame provided with means for suspending a load therefrom, a rope passing carriage-frame, anda wedge-shaped and forked' brake-shoe straddling the rope between the roller having the sliding bearings and one of the other rollers, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The herein-described pocket ireescape, comprising a carriage consisting ofa series of rollers jonrnaled in a frame provided with means for suspending a load therefrom, a rope passing alternately over and under the roll- Iers, a brake consisting of a lever pivoted to the carriage-frame, and a forked brake-shoe connected with the lever and strmldling the rope between two of the rollers, in combination with an inclosingcasing for containing the fire-escape, and a spool journaled in said casing upon which the rope is wound, sabstantially as and for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereofI affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

JULUS DISS. Titnessesz D. J. PARTELLO. MAX PRoMNrrz. 

